‘People Think Producing Is Not A Big Deal’ - Filmmaker, Bolaji Gelax

In this edition of Nollywood BTS with Filmmakers Mart, we talk with filmmaker, Bolaji Gelax about the barriers to entry in Nollywood and how she has navigated her unconventional career.

Bolaji Gelax is interesting and considers herself a jack of many trades. From her early blogging days to her radio era, the multipotentialite knew she wanted to create things and experimented with various forms until she found her home in filmmaking. 

She has worked on television and radio, ghost written at a creative agency and used to blog regularly about her life observations until she found her place in Nollywood. 

In this interview, Gelax talks about the barriers of entry for aspiring Nollywood filmmakers and how COVID helped kickstart her film career. 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

How did your Nollywood journey start? We can start by asking about who Bolaji Gelax is? Gelax is not your last name, is it?

Bolaji is my last name, weirdly. Bolaji Gelax is a Nollywood filmmaker. I think I’m more passionate about filmmaking than I am about anything else at this point in time, and I think it has been that way for the past few years. So, I am Bolaji Gelax. My father’s name is Bolaji but I go by Gelax. 

As for my Nollywood journey, I think I’d always known that I wanted to be in the creative space. I just didn’t know what exactly I wanted to do. In Obafemi Awolowo University, I had some lecturers who liked me and so, I got good advice. 

Later on, I sort of unofficially was always in the Dramatic Arts department of my school. I was always there. I was a stage manager, I learnt drama makeup, theatre makeup and costume. So, from my 200 level to my 500 level, I was a stage manager, a costume manager and a makeup artist. I even used to consult for student projects. I was quite popular to an extent particularly among the fellowships. Different fellowships would call me to come and freelance or put their departments through their costumes and wardrobes and all of that. So, It was a fun time. 

Then, I became a radio presenter after my youth service but I felt like I needed more. You know when there’s something you are going for and you aren’t there yet. As much as I got fulfilment from radio, I just knew that there was more I wanted to do, and I hadn’t not gotten it. 

So, I came to Lagos for a radio presenting course and by chance, followed some of my colleagues to an audition.  At the time, I felt that the only way to be a filmmaker was to start with being an actor. I was trying to become an actor because of this. 

Long story short, in 2020 during the pandemic, I resigned my job and took out a loan because I knew I wanted to go into filmmaking fully.  I am big on happiness and if something does not make me happy, I won’t do it. 

When I dropped my resignation letter, my boss knew instinctively that I was leaving the job for filmmaking which shocked me. I asked him how he knew and he said, “you said it multiple times during your interview that this is an interim job but you are going to give it your all but you are going back to filmmaking. So, you coming into my office looking this down, I just know that your time here is up.” 

My time there was really up and I had been struggling but I knew I needed to do this. We had just been thrown into the pandemic, everything was upside down, I didn’t even have savings and I wasn’t even sure I had made the right decision but entering my boss’ office and hearing him say that made me feel like I was on the right track.

At the time, I didn’t know anybody that was a filmmaker. Most of the people that I knew were people in front of the camera  but I knew that that was not where I wanted to be but even though I had been a TV and radio presenter. 

I knew I liked being a part of the process and did not know any other way to get into the industry than acting so I figured I could audition for  roles since audition calls are usually open. And then I could start my behind-the-camera journey following that. 

Anyway, after I resigned from my job, a friend called and asked what my plan was. I told him and he went ‘what about your series?’. He encouraged me to apply for the COVID Relief Fund – a loan payable over two years – which I got and combined with funds from other sources for my first project. 

How did this project happen once you had the funds pulled together? 

I knew nothing about filmmaking so I contacted Gail to write the script jack shit about filmmaking. We met when I worked at a writing agency. Then, I contacted my friend who is a fashion designer to do the costume and another, who is a musician to do the soundtrack. In one day, I had reached out to about five people who I thought needed to be part of the creative process. Everyone jumped at it. 

I remember I had gone to a meeting with someone that my cousin had introduced me to and the person was asking why they should invest. I told them I wanted to be a filmmaker not because I consider it glamorous but because I believe my purpose is to help other people become stars. 

That’s so interesting. What project was this? And when did it come out? What platform did you release it on? 

It’s titled Tangerine. It’s on YouTube. I think Tangerine came out in April or May 2021. So, yes, I’m officially going to be three years in the industry this year. Now that I know more about filmmaking, I am embarrassed with the project. I look at it now and think I could have done better with the money but at the end of the day, we spent about 2.5 million naira on the project. 

How was the project received? 

After the project, I think reality set in. Again, like I said, I didn’t know anything about filmmaking going into the project. So, after production, in post-production, I saw hell. I didn’t make it public when I was working on the project until we were done filming. I took a loan, took a risk and I carried people’s children from Lagos to Abeokuta to shoot. It was tough. 

After the project, I fell into depression for the first time in my life. I battled with imposter syndrome. It was like the project was done and I didn’t know what to do next. I finally got out of the depression by myself.

Shortly after, a friend who worked on my project told me about a production manager position open. I was like I don’t know anybody but let me ask people, the few industry people that I’ve met. Then I sat with myself and realised that I had just produced a project and could do the job. 

I went to read up on everything concerning production management. This was in August 2021. I was paid 60,000 naira but I didn’t mind because I was now in the industry. 

How do you describe Bolaji Gelax now? What do you do in the industry? What are the jobs you take?

So, I used to be a cast chaperone until this year. I am now a production manager and a producer. 

Most of the jobs I worked on were TV films and I wanted to enter the cinema space. I wanted to enter the big budget projects but for you to be a production manager for big projects, the producer must trust you with funds and know that you are competent. This is why I became a cast chaperone. I wanted to break away from the smaller budget and get into bigger projects. I had to find my strength and I am a people person. I genuinely love people. So, I started applying to be a cast chaperone on bigger productions and my thinking was it would be an option for me to enter the space. 

I know that when I’m there, I’m going to do more than my job.

What challenges have you encountered working in the industry? 

I think it’s people thinking producing is not a big deal. Not everybody can be a director and not everybody can be an actor but any Tom, Dick and Harry can come from anywhere and be a producer in Nollywood. I’m like that explains all the shitty jobs we have and the crazy part is that sometimes you don’t see what happens on set, you don’t see how production wasn't handled well and how it translates to why the project does not come out well. 

I find that there’s also a marketing part to this. You have to hustle, sell your market and shout. You need to come online and sell yourself as a producer even if you don’t know how to do the job. I am not a social media person so it is challenging in this sense. 

That’s an interesting perspective. What are you working on presently? 

I am working on a short film titled I Love You To The Moon And Back, Baby OR Composition Of A Couple. I am also creatively producing my first feature film.

My documentary on fibroids, Silent Tumours and other personal projects are still underway. 

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This series is jointly presented by Filmmakers Mart, the leading film logistics marketplace in Nollywood.